SMTP Authentication Changes in DXP

The provider for SMTP services and transactional e-mails in DXP are making some changes around authentication methods during this quarter. The changes will move away from basic authentication with username and password, and instead use API keys for authentication.

So what does this mean for you? 

If you are using the SMTP service that is a part of DXP, you will need to make some modifications to your <smtp> section in the web configuration file. Start by navigating to the management portal - within your DXP project and the “API” tab you will now find an option to generate API keys. 

After generating an API key (it’s only viewable directly after creation, so save it), grab the username and hostname as well from the management portal. You’re then ready to modify configuration in your deployment packages. 

<configuration>
    <system.net>
      <mailSettings>
        <smtp from="yourdefaultreply@address.com">
          <network
            host="smtp.sendgrid.net"
            password="[API key generated in management portal]"
            userName="apikey"
            port="[587, 465, 25 or 2525]" />
        </smtp>
      </mailSettings>
    </system.net>
</configuration>

And that’s it, you’re all set to deploy to your environments in DXP. Sendgrid does have a hard deadline of January 20th where they will stop supporting basic authentication. If you are currently using basic authentication and cannot make the changes ahead of the deadline, we will run a migration close to the deadline to do this automatically and transform configuration files, but note that we will block any deployments after this migration if we notice that basic authentication is used. This is to ensure that transactional e-mails keep working as expected. 

We apologize for the late heads-up for this and our aim is to make this transition as smooth as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Best regards, 
Elias Lundmark 
Product Manager, Cloud Services